McKinsey Recommends Racial Quota System for Hollywood

 McKinsey and Company, probably the most well-known if highly controversial American management consulting firm, has recommended that Hollywood implement a racial quota system when it comes to making movies.  That's according to an article in the March 12, 2021 New York Times headlined "Lack of Diversity Costs Hollywood Billions." 

McKinsey's recommendations have come into question over the years on a number of fronts, but most recently with respect to the opioid crisis. Less than a month ago, the firm's top executive was forced out of that position when McKinsey had to pay almost $600 million to 49 U.S. states because of the role it played in inappropriately urging its client, drug maker Purdue Pharma, to excessively push sales of OxyContin. That was only one of several scandals mentioned in a New York Times article of Feb. 24, 2021.

With respect to Hollywood, McKinsey has recommended that the film industry "commit publicly to a specific target for Black and nonwhite representation across all levels and roles that reflect the American population: 13.4 percent Black or a total of 40 percent for all people of color," the NYT reported.

In addition, the consultants, among other things, recommended that film makers "financially support a range of Black stories by committing 13.4 percent of annual budgets to projects starring Black actors with Black producers, writers and directors behind the camera."

Hollywood need not act upon those recommendations, but if the industry fails to become more racially diverse, as much as $10 billion in potential additional annual revenues may be lost, the consultants said.

I mention this for two reasons: most films made for entertainment fall into the category of fiction, which is mostly what this blog is about, and when looking at the contents of a work of fiction it is often, but not always, interesting to understand its genesis.